


Crash of Expectations

by vamprav



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bones is So Done, Confused Spock, Creature Fic, M/M, Multi, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 22:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7011694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamprav/pseuds/vamprav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another place, in another time Kirk hacked into the Kobayashi Maru and broke it. In this place and in this time Kirk hacks and the Kobayashi Maru and fixes it. But what's different about him, what made him change his mind.<br/>The answer is obvious of course. In that other place and in that other time Kirk was fully human. In this place and in this time he isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No-Win Scenario

Jim was about to give up, there was no way he’d pass his captains exam now. This was his third attempt at passing they’d never let him take it again after this. He was staring down at the PADD and reviewing the code for the Kobayashi Maru simulation. There were no gaps, no way of beating the system, no way of winning.

Something in Jim’s chest stirred and he felt his anger rising. He tried to tamp it down.

He couldn’t. He raised his arm to throw the pad but stopped in his eyes fell the candid picture of his father hanging on the wall. It depicted him in the mess of the ship smiling and laughing with the Winona by his side heavily pregnant.

No way of winning…

Slowly, Jim lowered and looked at the code. Whoever programs this was a sneaky fucker. The program the simulation so that every decision you made just made the situation worse.

If Jim ever met the programmer had done this he was going to congratulate them on their work then punch them in the face. They deserved an award of some kind even if there were a few gaps where a hacker, such as Jim, could slip in and mess with the code. Jim patched the holes and closed down the program.

Sign he started to search for ‘Tactics in Starfleet History’. He came across two search results he’d only ever bothered to download one of the lectures and the source document. He passed with flying colors and the class was rather boring. The only interesting lecture had been “No One Wins: by Amelia Wright”. Jim clicked on it.

_A woman entered the room and walked to the center of the classroom, heels clicking. She wore sleek black dress and red belt, with her black hair up in a messy bun._

_“All right, students,” she said calmly, “your teachers out helping his wife had a baby. Howa man who cannot give birth himself is supposed to help a woman whose forebears have done it for thousands of years I don’t know what there you have it.” There were a few laughs. “But, I’m not here to argue philosophy, I’m here to teach tactics. Or rather, I’m supposed to teach you about tactics. What I’m actually going to do is teach you about something that’s not in the curriculum. Does anyone here know what a no-win scenario is?”_

_A few hands shot up. Amelia picked one at random._

_“A no-win scenario is a situation where no matter what you do you lose.” The girl she’d picked said._

_“._

_“But, Ms., there’s no such thing.” A different girl spoke up. “There’s always a way to complete the mission.”_

_“No.” Amelia snapped, causing half the room to flinch. “There are such things as no-win scenarios, they are just very rare. There have been only seven instances of a no-win scenario in Starfleet history where there was no way that the captain could finish the mission with out them having to choose between the mission and their crews lives. Two of which have happened in the last 50 years. I will only say this once,” her face darkened as she surveyed them all, “as a captain your only duty is to your crew. The only victory you should see his part in them all alive, the only laws having one of them dying to watch. Their duty is to the mission, yours is to them. You want to know why? It’s because space wants to kill you, that has not changed and it will never change. It is a constant. So, therefore your job is to buck up, suck it up, and get everyone home alive. That is your one job as captain. Any questions?” She asked, face lighting up in a cheerful smile._

_No one and if you listened close enough you could hear the sound of a large predator away from prey._

_“All right,” she said calmly, “I, along with several of my associates, would like this to be a part of the standard curriculum. Dealing with a no-win scenario is something all captains should be able to do, even if they never use that skill.”_

James paused the recording with a grin. It looks like Amelia Wright had gotten her wish after all, only they weren’t being taught it, they were being tested on it.

Pursing his lips James closed video and reopened the program he used to hack the Kobayashi Maru. Carefully, meticulously, he re-hacked the code, making sure to up the program security as he went. He had a feeling the programmer who had made the program had less to do with the security issue than Starfleet itself. In his opinion all Starfleet computer security was shit.

He was actually surprised no one had tried hacking into anything yet. Then again, Starfleet could get you thrown in jail.

Well, Jim was going to fix their security and maybe a few strands of code area he knew he’d get caught but better him than some random, desperate cadet. He could at the very least to bring up the fundamental error in making potential captains take this when they did never been taught the skill.


	2. Kobayashi Maru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cadet Kirk faces the Kobayashi Maru for the third time. But this time he does it as himself.

Taking a deep breath James Tiberius Kirk sat down in the captain’s chair. Carefully, strip away his image, his shield against the casual observer, and let his natural confidence shine through.

The first time taken this test it has the mask on it had been overconfident, rushing in without thinking and had been caught unaware. The second time he attempted this is an angry, attempting to blow the other ships as soon as possible and has lost even faster. This time he was doing this as his inner self, he was using the same part of himself used on the firing range or during a game of capture the flag.

It was the part of himself that most people would see as coldly calculating but it wasn’t. In fact Jim found this part of himself warmer than the mask he wore daily. It wasn’t the cold calculation that Vulcans practiced, it was hot and primal. Predator rather than a philosopher.

In the control room Instructor Spock frowned. The cadet who sat in the simulations captains chair wasn’t the same as the cadet who taken this test twice before. This wasn’t an arrogant little human with too much pride and too little sense. This was someone else who simmered like a forge instant of crackling like an electric storm or reaching like a firestorm. This cadet could forge a strong crew.

But, not this crew, Spock noted as Cadet Uhura turned around to inform Cadet Kirk of the Kobayashi Maru‘s state. She was overly catty and disrespectful, there was a story of their but she was the best cadet to for the job, that must’ve been why Cadet Kirk chose her.

Jim nodded and turned the viewscreen. “All right, plot a course for the Kobayashi potatoes and slow, we don’t know what caused the power failure… Hang on a minute, how did they contact Starfleet if they’ve lost power?” He asked, realizing in a rush why that statement had always bothered him so much.

“I don’t know, sir. Distress beacon?” Uhura said waspishly.

Behind the one-way glass that oversaw the simulation area Spock was torn between frowning unsmiling. On one hand Uhura’s obvious hostility was worrying, but on the other no one had ever thought to question the distress signal. Something had happened in Spock found himself approving of it greatly, at least when it pertains to Cadet Kirk. “Captain to transporter room.” Cadet Kirk said as he hit the intercom on the chair.

One of the technicians in the booth answered. “Captain.”

“Prepare to beam the crew of the Kobayashi Maru into the ship.” Cadet Kirk said as they decelerated from warp. “Life signs scan.”

“45 life signs detected.” A different cadet called.

“Can you get them all onto the ship while we evaluate the damage and make repairs. I’m not overly confident in their life support if their power is shot.” Cadet Kirk said. “Move them to medical immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” The technician said and flicked a few switches.

“To Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are walking weapons on us.” The cadet from before called as an alarm began blaring.

Cadet Kirk nodded. “All right,” he said and pressed the intercom again, “Captain to transporter room, do we have the Kobayashi’s crew on board?”

“Three more Klingon war birds de-cloaking and targeting our ship.” The cadet Kirk paid the most attention to said.

The commission from before pressed the intercom button again. “Yes, sir.” He said.

“Good.” Cadet Kirk said and turned to Uhura. “Tell them and raise shields.”

“They aren’t responding.” Uhura said.

“Captain, they’re firing on us.” Another cadet yelled.

“Shields?” Jim asked blood running hotness veins. It was finally lying himself to have fun with this in a vicious smile spread across his face. They’d fired on his ship, with his Bones on it. That was a big mistake.

“60%.” The black haired cadet said matter-of-factly.

“What type of court is the Kobayashi have?” Cadet Kirk asked in Spock knew immediately what he was doing.

“What ever is standard for a class 3 neutron fuel carrier.” Bones said and Jim grinned predatorial, doing a brief calculation in his head.

“Prepare to fire on the Kobayashi.”

“The Klingon ships are preparing another volley, sir.”

“Prepare to evacuate if shields dropped below 40%, fire on my signal.” Spock watched in shock as the Klingon vessels chart their weapons and Cadet Kirk waited right before the crown spire to the content acted. “Fire!”

The beam hit the Kobayashi and Cadet Kirk screamed “Retreat” is explosion spreads the Klingon vessels and they made it out of range or before they were caught in the blast.

And with the fact that viewscreen went black the simulations over, James Tiberius Kirk was the first person to pass.

Once the technicians turned to stare at Spock. “How did he beat your test?” The man asked angrily.

Spock cocked his head. “I do not know.” He murmured, debating whether or not to say that the cadet cheated.

The cadets solution had been rather ingenious and he didn’t remember ever programming in what would happen if the Kobayashi was fired on. At least the cadet hadn’t been obvious with his coding, Spock thought as he pulled up Kobayashi’s programming. The cadets code fit in almost perfectly with his own. After a minute of internal debate left the code, he’d figure out how to work the programming around it later.

Humming to himself Spock closed out the program and nodded to the technician that was still looking at him. “However, he did manage to use it to scrap and see in my code to his advantage I will be requesting that his first posting be with me on the Enterprise.” The Vulcan said.


	3. Distress Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jim went to confront the programmer of the Kobayashi Maru he had expected to be court-martialed, not offered a place on Starfleet's newest flagship. And by a Vulcan at that.

The first thought Jim had one Professor Spock opened the door to his office was, “he’s hot,” the second was, “oh cool a Vulcan,” and the third was “shit.” If Jim and had known that the person who had programmed the Kobayashi was a Vulcan then he never would have messed with it. Vulcans did not take kindly to being told that they were wrong or having their things messed with, he learned that on Tarsus. Not firsthand, thank God, but he’d still learnt it. He was so screwed.

“Professor Spock?” Jim asked in a tall Vulcan gave a short nod. “Can I come in to talk to you for a moment?”

Professor Spock nodded and gestured the cadet inside his office. He shut the door and walked the cadet walked to the chair in front of Spock’s desk and then turned to look the Vulcan in the eyes.

“First, I’d like to apologize for hacking your test.” Jim said and Spock raised an eyebrow at him. “Second, I really hope you can up the security on that yourself because Starfleet has done a horrible job of protecting that program, I got in twice without them noticing. And third, I can reverse it all if you want, I just wanted to make a solution that you hadn’t programmed for yet.”

Spock cocked his head. “That will not be necessary, Cadet Kirk. I would like some assistance in programming around to the code you have added to the Kobayashi Maru Simulation. Since you cannot assist you while you are being told marshaled or are on a different ship I have requested that you be assigned to the Enterprise with me.”

Jim blinked at him a few times, mouth hanging slightly open. “What?” He finally asked in incredulity.

“Since you found a discrepancy in my program that would have broken the test if you have not implemented a subroutine I would like your assistance in programming around other such discrepancies.” Spock said.

Jim stared at him for a few minutes soon what you’re saying is that since I’ve fixed your test by cheating, you want me to help you find other areas that cadets could break your test with, program around those areas, and then repeat the process. Am I getting this right?” He asked.

“Affirmative.”

“So, you want me to help fix the test by hacking it?”

“Also correct.”

Jim slowly sank into the chair in front of Spock’s desk. He looked steamrolled. “So, you’re not court marshaling me?” He asked.

Spock quirked an eyebrow. “No, I’m not.” He said.

“Huh.” Jim said absently. “Okay, but why would you need my help?”

Spock strode over to sit behind his desk and look at Jim straight on. “I began programming the Kobayashi Maru when I first entered Starfleet. I have had an entirely Vulcan that skill set and upbringing, meaning that while I had a firm grasp of logic and was smarter than most if not all of my year mates I had… difficulties understanding empathy and emotional response. I believe I have gotten better at understanding the human tendency to be logical but I still struggle with it.” He said.

“And, you program to the Kobayashi with logic and mind. See the need my emotional perspective. So, your logic stated that blown Kobayashi was illogical because it was too high of a risk to your crew and against the orders you were given.”

“Affirmative.”

“Yeah. You need my help.” Jim said a small grimace. “Do you want me to give you a rundown of the flaws I saw right away?”

“That would be much appreciated.” Spock said with a small nod.

Jim sighed. “Firstly, what’s the purpose of the test? I have a loose idea but I want to hear it from you.” He said calmly.

“The purpose of the test is to feel fear in the face of death keep control of oneself and one’s crew.” Spock said simply.

Jim sighed and pinched his nose. “All right, first fault the test’s too short for that. It is a brilliant leap programmed single instance but that does not negate the fact that it is a simulation that only lasts 5 to 10 minutes. It also isn’t a good test captain’s ability to deal with there who on it day to day basis. That’s another thing: the crew. You can’t just throw a bunch of cadets together and expect them to work. It-“

There was a beeping sound engine parts, waiting for Spock to check the notification. Spock’s face changed about halfway through the message. Jim froze when he saw that while, he knew that will. It was the look of a Vulcan terrified.

Spock stood and Jim stood with him. It had been years since he’d seen a terrified Vulcan and it was hitting on his most primal instincts. The great cats in the back of his head had perked up and start growling.

“Vulcans has sent out a distress call. We are to report to the Enterprise as clear as possible.”

 

Jim could not believe that he was about to board the USS Enterprise as an assistant to the Head Science Officer, who was not only the person who had programmed the Kobayashi would was a Vulcan to boot. When he’d gone to Spock’s quarters he expected to apologize, be killed at, and then court-martialed, where he would then get to balls the Council out for the Kobayashi’s shit security and their equally shit teaching curriculum. He had been board the majority of his time at the Academy, so he had a while to think about this.

But now, it all paid off because he was about to port Starfleet’s newest flagship with a Vulcan he hadn’t even known that Vulcans were in Starfleet until today and he was internally bouncing with that knowledge. He’d regretted joining Starfleet when he had realized that fact, after taxes he’d hoped that he could join his friends and meet new ones but we know not had gotten there too fast and his friend had been gotten a chance to speak for him to people. But, now, now felt so much better about this.

Staying on Tarsus in hard and he’d spent most of it in his… other form. Luckily, he been able to hide his… more obvious differences from a standard human before he been rescued. And when he had he destroyed all the genetic evidence that they picked up off him so no one knew about it. About his other self, his inner self, his true self.

Except for Bones, and Bones was _his_.

Bones had been furious when he’d found out James had been forging all his medical information since the age of 11.

_“Jim, there is no Doctor Madison Lambert with a medical license on file.” Bones said as he slammed into their dorm room._

_Jim froze, fingers hovering over the buttons on his PADD. A faint chorus of ‘shit shit shit shit shit’ ran through his mind as Bones close the door and dropped his bag on the chair by the door. His inner self stirred to life with a low rumble, responding to his distress._

_“Do you want to explain why you’ve been faking your medical exams you turn 12?” Bones asked as he stormed over to stand in front of Jim and then froze as the blonde cadets let his inner self slip for just a second._

_“Well, after Tarsus I wasn’t too comfortable with doctors, considering my baseline is shot to hell.” Jim said fiddling with one of his claws._

_Bones continued to stare for second but recovered quickly and straightened to his full height, clearing his throat before he spoke. “Then, it’s a good thing I assigned myself as your personal doctor.”_

Jim shook the memory off but a faint smile crept across his face. Bones was the best friend everyone hoped for, honest, loyal, and he’d call you on your shit. Jim was lucky he hadn’t been scared Bones off with his freaky biology.

Rolling your eyes at his own preoccupation for Jim trailed over to where Uhura was talking to Spock. He got into curing range just in time to hear the Vulcans say, “I did not wish it to seem like I was showing favoritism.” James hackles rose, he did nothing against the Uhura but her short temper and blatant judgy attitude would do her any favors in a relationship with a Vulcan.

“No,” Uhura said stiffly, “I’m assigned to the Enterprise.”

Jim snorted and mild disdain as he walked Spock, subtle shifts in his body language spoke volumes about his state of mind. He was incredibly uncomfortable with the human woman standing that close.

Spock looked down at his PADD, making a few adjustments. “So you are.” He said as Jim stepped up next to them.

“Is there a problem, Commander?” Jim asked bearing his teeth to grow in threat. He may not have fangs in this form but he was perfectly capable of snapping her in half and might even welcome of the opportunity. This level of snark shouldn’t have to be tolerated. Bones’s snark was productive or just general bitching, her’s was actively detrimental.

“No, there is not.” Spock said calmly as who Uhura snarled and walked away in a huff, body language relaxing just the slightest bit.

“Human women are terrifying.” Jim commented and patted Spock’s arm.

Spock made the tiniest sound of agreement in the back of his throat and Jim’s snarl softened into a grin. He really did love Vulcan body language and expression, so settle yet so sarcastic.

“I believe that observation may apply to all species.” Spock said absently and turned to board the shuttle.


	4. The Enterprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim finally reveals himself as more than human to the crew of the Enterprise. And then goes to save a childhood friend.

Jim was giddy as he followed Spock onto the bridge of the Enterprise. He was on a starship with a Vulcan for a companion he couldn’t be happier. And then he saw Captain Pike and his mood dropped.

Pike had been the one to dare him to join Starfleet, launching the challenge to his rank that he couldn’t ignore. So he’d risen to it, the challenge that had been issued and join Starfleet to become Captain. And he’d failed.

Now, Jim wouldn’t have taken the challenge if he had known what it would entail, years of boring work, reviewing things he already knew so that he could lead up to a final’s tests that didn’t even allow him to win.

Well Jim knew, intellectually at least, that Pike had meant it only as a friendly challenge, an attempt to recruit him and make him better than he had been his hindbrain wasn’t agreeing. Jim’s inner self was raging at the fact that an older dominant male had used an underhanded trick to beat him.

“Jim,” Captain Pike said, “I wasn’t aware you were assigned to the Enterprise.”

“I requested his presence, Captain, I was planning to expand the Kobayashi murders programming and since James was the last cadets to take the test I have requested his assistance.” Spock said as he started up his panel. “Engineering reports study for launch.”

“Thank you, Mister Spock.” The Captain commented do with a strange hum. “Ladies and gentlemen the maiden voyage of our new flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance than we can afford today. The christening will just have to be our award for safe return. Carry on.” And he sat in the Captain’s chair. He hit the comm. “All decks this is Captain Pike preparing for immediate departure. Helm thrusters.”

The Asian man at the pilot station and began pressing buttons. “Moorings retracted, Captain. Doc control reports ready. Thrusters fired. Separating from .” He said and Jim decided that he liked to the no-nonsense man.

Then the blonde realized that he was on the Enterprise and about to go to Vulcan and let out a sound remarkably similar to a tiger chuff. No one paid any mind, except for Spock who just raised an eyebrow.

“The fleets cleared space dock, sir.” The pilot said. “All ships ready for work.”

“Set course for Vulcan.” Pike said.

“Captain, course late in.” The pilot said as Spock had to Jim a PADD.

Jim took it as a sign to start coding and a plea to stay under control. Jim nodded as he folded down to sit across like it by Spock’s feet getting lost in the Kobayashi’s code, or at least a copy of it. Got a few odd looks but since they were on the bridge of a starship and everyone’s busy no one really paid any mind. He didn’t notice as the ship stalled and was only brought out the code by Spock nudging his leg with one foot.

Jim looked up blinking at the Vulcan who looked like he was about to smile. That made him want to purr, the Vulcan had hit a particularly sensitive pressure point in his lower back just above one hip. “I’m fiddling with the subroutine I used, making the blast radius a bit larger than what’s technically natural, still within a believable scope. I’m going to test it and then see if I can make it so shrapnel from the explosion punctures the hull or damages life support.” He said causing Spock to give him a little half smile for second before it was gone.

“So your goal is to make it necessary to evacuate?” The Vulcan asked.

Jim nodded. “Yes, the ability to orchestrate an evacuation is a necessary skill to have. Plus, if we have the struggles malfunction or get intercepted it will be a good way to evaluate their emotional state after a loss.” He said. “If we wants to know how good they will be as a captain then we need to run them through the gambit. That will lead out the ones who crack under pressure and find out their strengths. You don’t put a war hawk Helm of diplomatic vessel, just like you don’t put a 12-year-old in charge of a military operation.”

He heard someone snort as they dropped out of hyperspace and then everything went to hell.

 

Jim had never lost himself to his inner self, to his instincts, not since Tarsus. But Tarsus didn’t count because Tarsus was Tarsus and nothing would or could ever compare to that experience.

He didn’t remember most of it, but he remembered being tired and hungry.

He remembered lying under his onstage body and being beaten up by the people who were supposed to protect him.

There have been moments of beauty but they were few and far between, a flower in bloom, the stars, the sun rise over the forest.

And, then there was T’Pring.

She’d been hiding out in one of the outermost houses of the city when the soldiers had found her. Jim had learned his lesson about doing that a few weeks prior, so it was really by chance that he happens to be passing by. He had been using the rooftops to travel, fearing food to and from little base camp when he had heard her scream.

It was loud and panicked and desperate and Jim wouldn’t have been able to ignore it even if he wanted to. He stopped to look and what he’d seen had made him furious. Because it had immediately become evident that they weren’t just going to kill her.

Jim had dropped his bag and shifted. It was his first Full Shift and it was in the middle of the day. Normally his kind could only Shift at night due to the biorhythms of the planet but being born in space did have some advantages, even if he was allergic to every vaccine known to man.

He had manage to kill four of them before they had even registered what was going on and the fifth didn’t get a chance to draw his weapon. T’Pring had just stared at him until he approached her and shifted back. He thought she was in shock at first and had tried to assess the situation without touching her, scared that he would cause her to have a panic attack. He’d only know the basics about Vulcans, he’ known they were touched telepaths, and didn’t know if he would hurt her if he touched her.

They’d become fast friends, bonded by trauma and all that, and Jim hadn’t had an involuntary Shift since, until now. He had never thought he would be more angry than he had been that day, until now.

Jim heard the pilots scream as he fell and he turned, mid-Shift. The Romulan who had thrown the older man was only a few yards away and Jim leapt, landing on the alien’s back. Under different circumstances he’d probably have liked the Romulans but as it was he felt no remorse as he ripped the man’s throat out with his claws.

Sulu was the pilot of the Enterprise which meant he was under the protection of Spock and since Jim was Spock’s second-in-command that meant Sulu was under his protection as well. Protecting the Alpha’s people was so deeply ingrained an instinct that Jim wasn’t even thinking about his Shift until after they’d been beamed back aboard the Enterprise.

“Beam me into one of the shuttles.” Jim snapped at Chekhov, the young man just stared at him.

“Uh.” The young man squeaked.

“Now! We may have stopped the drill but it still destabilized the planet! And I know at least one place that doesn’t have an escape craft!”

They beamed him into the shuttle and he took off as fast as the shuttle would allow.

He had kept in as much contact with T’Pring as their lives would allow, siblings bonded by tragedy. Vulcans were highly emotional beings and Jim found their unwillingness to admit to that a bit disturbing but he understood why they did it.

T’Pring on the other hand was a different matter altogether, her emotions were raw and unchecked. Living with Jim on Tarsus for months and starting had affected her both physically and mentally in a way most of Vulcans didn’t understand. They probably should’ve sent her to a human psychologist but Vulcans were prideful and that had only made matters worse.

To Jim had been there for her when she was called names for being too different. He had been there when her father had reacted badly to her inability to bond with her betrothed. He’d been there when she found out that she couldn’t have children and when she’d cut her hair so short it looks like a hedgehog and when she decided to work at the orphanage.

It was the least he could do for her since she’d kept him sane on Tarsus and kept him in human form for the majority of that hell and dealt with his tantrums about Starfleet and his mother. And now…

Now all he could think of was how she’d bitched about budget cuts and the Council about how someone’s baby had been left on the doorstep. That made three half Vulcan children just dumped in her lap in the past year.

They were all sweet kids, Jim had met them over the video link before, but there were just too many of them for her to take care of on her own. They were 10 kids only two were over the age of 11, all “problem children” so they weren’t allowed in Vulcan schools.

All those lives lost, just because they couldn’t conform. It made Jim irrationally angry. This was why his kind still lived in secret. There was no place for his people and bigoted lands, where they would be hunted just because their blood and what they could become under the light to the stars and moon.

The shuttle landed heavily in front of a small cave arch and seven children darted towards it as Jim opened the back hatch. T’Pring followed a little ways behind, carrying a small cloth bundle. Jim met her on the shuttle ramp feeling the planet given ominous rumble.

“Salem got caught under a rock fall, T’Mal states to help him.” She said and thrust the baby into his arms.

“I have to drive.” Jim protested weakly as together the child’s closer to his chest and T’Pring moved towards the pilot seat.

“I can fly, James Tiberius Kirk, and you know that!” T’Pring snapped as T’Mal came rocketing out of the cave with an 11-year-old Salem being carried piggyback.

She was fast and managed to dart through the back hatch just as it began to close. Breathing a sigh of relief Jim sat down with the baby and Salem was deposited next to him.

" **Just a sprain.”** Salem chirped in Vulcan and burrowed into Jim’s left side as T’Mal did the same on his right. A set of twins clambered into his lap and a toddler curled up by his feet.

They hadn’t seen him like this before and Jim was incredibly glad they weren’t scared of him. He looked a bit like a monster covered in blood with fangs and claws out, ready to eviscerate anyone who dared try and harm T’Pring or her brood. Children were precious, his kind had so few that is it had been built into their very being to protect any child in danger, it did not matter if they were an alien with a child of someone who killed their own child, Jim’s kind would protect them to the death.

**“Which ship is yours? Who is your captain?”** T’Mal asked.

**“A Vulcan named Spock of the USS Enterprise. He went to retrieve the Vulcan High Council.”** Jim replied.

“Should I stop there first?” T’Pring asked.

“Yes.” Jim said.

**“Tell us the story.”** Salem murmured.

Jim smiled and started whispering beginning of a human bedtime story to them. Soon the twins and the toddler had fallen asleep and the two older children moved the twins from Jim’s lap to their own. Jim smiled thankfully as they landed again and the hatch opened. He thought about sheathing his claws and Shifting back to his human form but in the entire transport room had seen him, so why bother.

If he was lucky this would make its way further than The Enterprise in the Vulcan Council. If he was unlucky then the appropriate arrangements had already been made for himself and his people, there was a planet they had had their eye on for a while and his people had promised him a very nice funeral when he was discovered. But, in a feeling it wouldn’t come to that, Vulcans could be very good at keeping secrets.

The kind counsel strode towards the shuttle with a purpose, the leader not questioning the presence of a craft such as this. Spock did even if it was only signaled by his brief pause in the entrance of the councils structure. The captain managed to shrug off the bewilderment and then walked out of the entry.

Then, there was rumble, the grinding of rock against rock, and the into a collapsed.

Jim only had the time to register Spock’s cry of “Mother” before he was moving towards his Alpha. With strength he rarely used he tried to Spock from the rock build up and hold him onto the ship. Then he unceremoniously dumped the baby he was still carrying into Spock’s arms and ran back to the cave entrance.


End file.
